Stationary clothes drying apparatus

ABSTRACT

A stationary dryer, which may be used for drying clothes, is provided having a housing enclosing a space. A stationary support is located within the space for receiving articles to be dried. An air moving device is provided for generating an air flow through the space from an air inlet to an air outlet. An air distributor mechanism comprising a distribution plenum is positioned between the air inlet and the stationary support, with a plenum wall having a plurality of perforations therein. At least one of the distribution plenum and the perforations are sized, shaped and arranged so as to equalize an air flow distribution over the stationary support.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to stationary dryers and moreparticularly to a clothes dryer having a support over which air flow isdirected, the support being stationary during the drying process.

Significant percentages of items that are washed are not dried in atumble dryer. Estimates of percentages are as high as 40%. These itemsare typically dried hanging in ambient air or, if the danger ofstretching exists, dried laying flat in ambient air. When drying in thismanner, free convection is the primary mechanism of heat transfer. Freeconvection also carries away evaporated water in support of thenecessary mass transfer.

Drying rates can be doubled or tripled in comparison to free convectionwhen common fans or blowers are used to provide conventional parallelflow forced convection heat transfer. Heat transfer rates may also begreatly increased for conventional forced convection, however fan/blowercost will typically rise exponentially with increased heat transferrate.

For some fabrics, drying, while initially fast, may become slower laterin the drying cycle due to the need to break mechanical and chemicalbonds that limit the amount of “free” water available for evaporation.Normally this binding is more easily broken as temperatures areelevated.

Drying devices have been built in the past in which items may be placedto dry in a forced convection air stream that is typically heated. Forexample, EP 0 933 465 discloses a stationary clothes dryer having aperforated plate for receiving a layer of clothing articles to be dried,through which a flow of heated air is directed. These drying devicesinclude stationary supports as well as movable drawers. For example U.S.Pat. No. 5,870,836 discloses the use of porous shelf inserts that slidein horizontal slots. These devices have been effective in reducing thedrying time in comparison to ambient drying, however, these designs havenot reached their highest potential effectiveness. The primary reasonthat limitations exist in the prior art designs is the limitedconsideration that has been given to optimum heat transfer and air flowdesign. In some designs, air flow is diverted by one item to be driedsuch that drying of other items is effectively blocked.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improvement over known stationaryclothes dryers in that it provides an air distributor mechanismcomprising a distribution plenum positioned between an air inlet and aclothes supporting surface which may be generally horizontal or verticaland porous or non-porous. The plenum has a wall with a plurality ofperforations therein, and the perforations are sized, shaped andarranged so as to equalize an air flow distribution over and perhapsthrough the support surface. In an embodiment where the air flow throughthe stationary clothes dryer is maintained at a relatively high rate,but with a low pressure drop, the wall of the distribution plenum has agreater porosity near the air flow inlet than farther away.

The air distributor mechanism may also include a supply plenum arrangedbetween an air inlet and the distribution plenum to direct the air flowfrom the air inlet to the distribution plenum.

The distribution plenum can be arranged at one more sides of the clothessupport and can introduce the air flow to the drying chamber one or moreof, above the support surface, below the support surface and to eitherside of the surface. An air outlet, likewise can be positioned above,below and to either side of the surface.

The air outlet can be positioned at a longitudinal end of the poroussurface or, in some configurations, it can be positioned at one of thelateral sides, opposite the lateral side having the perforated plenumwall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stationary clothes dryer embodying theprinciples of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the interior of one drawer ofthe stationary clothes dryer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the stationary clothes dryer of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view taken generally along the lineIV—IV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a second embodiment of the clothesdryer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken generally along the line VI—VI of FIG.5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken generally along the line VII—VII ofFIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of a third embodiment of the stationaryclothes dryer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken generally along the line IX—IX of FIG.8.

FIG. 10 is an alternative embodiment of the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a stationaryclothes dryer embodying the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of astationary clothes dryer embodying the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a rear perspective view of the stationary clothes dryer ofFIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the airdistributor plenum.

FIG. 15A is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the air inletopenings.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the exhaustplenum.

FIG. 16A is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the air exhaustopenings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A stationary dryer incorporating the principles of the present inventioncan be practiced in many different embodiments. Some of theseembodiments are shown and described herein, however, the presentinvention is not limited to the particular embodiments contained in thisdescription.

The term stationary dryer is meant to cover drying devices in which thearticles being dried remain relatively stationary during the dryingprocess. The dryer itself may be movable to different locations andvarious components of the dryer may be moveable, particularly when thearticles to be dried are being placed into or removed from the dryer.While such a device could be used to dry a wide variety of articles, forthe purposes of providing an enabling disclosure of the best mode of theinvention, embodiments are described below for drying clothing or otherfabric articles, however, the invention is not limited to such specificuses.

In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a stationary clothes dryer generally at20, in one form, which includes a housing 22 enclosing an interior space24. A clothes support 26 is located within the space 24 and comprises asubstantially horizontal surface which may be flexible and porous, suchas an open netting or screen material, or may be rigid and solid or mayhave a plurality of openings therethrough. Preferably the surface 26 issufficiently stable so as to support a typical clothes load, such as awet sweater or similar clothing article without unduly sagging ordistending. The surface 26 may be porous. This surface, while it may bemovable for loading and unloading articles for drying, remains generallystationary during the drying process, and is referred to herein as astationary support surface.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the stationary clothes dryer 20is depicted as a stand alone appliance, although it can be incorporatedinto other cabinetry or appliances as desired.

The support surface 26 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as being mounted on amovable slide member 28, in the form of a drawer 29 with a drawer front30 and a manually graspable pull 32 to allow the surface 26 to be slidinto and out of the housing 22 to load and unload clothing and fabricitems on the surface. In other embodiments the surface 26 may be fixedin place with other arrangements made for loading and unloading clothingitems from the surface, such as openable doors into a space above thesurface.

Also, in FIG. 1, a second drawer 34 is illustrated in a closed position,demonstrating that the stationary clothes dryer may include more thanone support surface 26 for receiving items to be dried. Any number andarrangement of such support surfaces can be utilized in the stationaryclothes dryer. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, a spaceindicated by trim piece 36 is provided between the upper drawer 29 andthe lower drawer 34 to accommodate an air plenum as described below. Theprecise placement and arrangement of the air plenum can be modified, inaccordance with the various embodiments described below.

In FIGS. 2–4, a first embodiment of a stationary clothes dryer 20A isillustrated, schematically, to show the interior components thereof. Theclothes dryer 20A includes a housing 22A for enclosing a space 24A. Asubstantially horizontal support surface 26A, which may be porous, ispositioned in the interior of the space 24A for receiving a load ofarticles to be dried. As described above, the horizontal surface 26A canbe fixed or slidable or otherwise movable relative to the housing 22A.

The clothes dryer 20A includes an air moving device 40A, which may be inthe form of a motor operated fan, to generate an air flow in adownstream direction through the space 24A from an air inlet 42A to anair outlet 44A. An air distributor mechanism comprising a distributionplenum 46A is positioned between the air inlet 42A and upstream of thehorizontal support surface 26A. The distribution plenum 46A has a plenumwall 48A having a plurality of perforations 50A therein. Theperforations can be round, oval, square, rectangular, slot-shaped,curved, or configured in other shapes as desired to provide the desiredair flow. The perforations 50A are sized, shaped and arranged so as toequalize an air flow distribution, as indicated by arrows 52A. Anoptional heating element 54A is provided between the air inlet 42A andupstream of the surface 26A.

In operation, the fan 40A causes air to flow in through the air inlet42A to a supply plenum 56A which includes therein the heating element54A. There, if the heating element 54A is energized, the air is heatedand flows downstream to the distribution plenum 46A. In this embodiment,there are two distribution plenums 46A located on opposite lateral sidesof the support surface 26A. As seen in FIG. 4, the distribution plenum46A extends both above and below the support surface 26A and the plenumwall 48A preferably includes openings in the areas both above and belowthe support surface 26A. In this manner, air flow from the plenums 46Aflow into a space 60A beneath the surface 26A as well as into a space62A above the surface. An air outlet opening 64A is positioned in a wall66A located at one longitudinal end of the surface 26A into which theair flows, before exiting from the air outlet 44A. The outlet opening64A is positioned above the support surface 26A. A second outlet opening65A is positioned below the support surface also in the wall 66A andleads to air outlet 44A. Of course, two or more of the air outletopenings 64A, 65A and outlet 44A could be one and the same.

In this embodiment, thus, air flows above and below the support surface26A, to flow over an upper surface of the clothing and below a lowersurface of the clothing, in a generally lateral and longitudinal fashionas shown in FIG. 2, to effect a drying by air flow over all surfaces ofthe garment, particularly where the support surface is porous orrelatively open.

The air outlet opening 64A could alternatively be the only outletopening, particularly where the support surface 26A is not porous. Inthis case, the plenums 46A would extend only above the surface 26A. Inthis arrangement, air would flow only over the upper exterior surface ofthe clothing article.

It is desirable that the porosity of the plenum walls 48A be arranged sothat air flow over the support surface 26A is equalized. By this it ismeant that a relatively even distribution of air flow is providedthroughout the area of the support surface 26A rather than having theair flow predominately located at one end or another, or around theedges, or only through the center.

One way to achieve the generally equalized air flow, particularly in anarrangement where a fairly high velocity air flow, such as 0.2–0.3 m/sflows through the distribution plenum 46A, where there is a minimalpressure drop through the plenum wall 48A, is to increase the porosityof the plenum wall at an upstream side thereof closest to the fan 40A(when it is in a position to push air through the plenum 46A) in that,in the arrangement illustrated, the velocity of the air flow will tendto cause the air to flow past in the initial openings in thedistribution plenum rather than through the openings. By increasing theporosity at the upstream end of the wall 48A, the air flow through theplenum wall along the length of the plenum 46A can be equalized.Similarly, decreasing the porosity at the downstream end of the plenum46A, where the air flow tends to go to due to the straight elongatedarrangement of the plenum and the momentum of the moving air, will tendto equalize the air flow over the support surface 26A. A method forincreasing (or decreasing) the porosity of the wall 48A is to change thesize, spacing configuration and/or layout of the perforations 50Athrough the wall.

A second embodiment of the stationary clothes dryer 20B is illustratedin FIGS. 5–7 where it is seen that the clothes dryer 20B includes ahousing 22B enclosing a space 24B with a stationary clothes supportcomprising a substantially horizontal surface 26B positioned within theenclosed space. An air moving device 40B is provided for generating anair flow through the space from an air inlet 42B to an air outlet 44B.An air distributor mechanism comprising a distribution plenum 46B ispositioned between the air inlet 42B and the horizontal surface 26B andincludes a plenum wall 48B having a plurality of perforations therein.In this embodiment, the distribution plenum 46B is positioned beneaththe entirety of the surface 26B and the plenum wall 48B is generallyhorizontal so that the air will flow up through the plenum wall towardthe air outlets 64B and 65B. The support surface 26B can be supportedcentrally within a space 60B such as by hangers 67B or posts 69B orother known support members so that air from the plenum wall 48B canflow both along and under the surface 26B as well as along and over thetop of the support surface in space 62B in that the sides of the surface26B can be left generally open to the space 60B. An end 68B of thesupport surface 26B may be spaced away from an end 70B of the plenum sothat air flow can be equalized, even over the end of the support surfaceopposite the air outlet 64B. Alternatively, the support surface 26B mayextend the full length and width of the space 24B, with porous areasprovided at least along the margin areas of the support surface 26B toallow for air flow to the upper space 62B from the lower space 60B. Thesizes of the air outlets 64B and 65B may be adjusted relative to oneanother to equalize the air flow over the top and bottom surfaces ofsupport surface 26B as well.

Again, the porosity of the distribution plenum wall 48B preferably isarranged to allow for a generally equalized flow over the porous surface26B. Of course, the position of the plenum 46B can be reversed, that is,it can be positioned above the support surface 26B, and, if desired,openings or spacings being provided to allow for a flow of air below thesupport surface to the air outlet 65B.

A third alternate embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 8–10. In thisembodiment, the stationary clothes dryer 20C includes a housing 22Cenclosing a space 24C and a stationary clothes support 26C is locatedwithin the space 24C comprising a substantially horizontal surface whichoptionally may be porous. An air moving device 40C is provided forgenerating an air flow through the space from an air inlet 42C to an airoutlet 44C. An air distributor mechanism is provided which comprises adistribution plenum 46C positioned between the air inlet 42C and thesupport surface 26C, with a plenum wall 48C having a plurality ofperforations therein. In this embodiment, the distribution plenum 46C isarranged along one lateral side of the support surface 26C and the airoutlet 44C is positioned along an opposite lateral side. A supply plenum56C extends between the air inlet 42C and the distribution plenum 46C.In a first arrangement of this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9, theplenum wall 48 c has perforations in an area only above the supportsurface 26C and the air outlet 44C has openings only above the supportsurface. The distribution plenum 46C is positioned on one side of thehorizontal surface 26 and the exhaust outlet 64C is positioned on anopposite side of the porous surface. In this case, the plenum is on onelateral side of the horizontal surface and the exhaust outlet is on theopposite lateral side.

In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 10, flow is provided both aboveand below the support surface. That is, in this arrangement perforationsare provided in the plenum wall 48C above and below the support surface26C and the exhaust outlets 64C and 65C are positioned above and beneaththe porous surface. Again, the plenum and the exhaust outlet are onopposite sides, both opposite lateral sides, of the support surface.

Again, it is preferred that the porosity of distribution plenum wall 48Cbe arranged so as to provide a generally equalized flow over the supportsurface 26C which may require that the plenum wall have a greaterporosity closer to the air moving device 44C as described above.

A fourth alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 11–12. In thisembodiment, the stationary clothes dryer 20D includes a housing 22Denclosing a space 24D and a plurality of stationary clothes supports arelocated within the space 24D comprising half width 25D and full width27D horizontal shelves, a hanger bar 29D for receiving one or morehangers 31D to vertically support an article to be dried, and a pull outdrawer 33D with horizontal surfaces 35D. These various stationaryclothes supports may have porous surfaces or non-porous surfaces. An airmoving device 40D is provided for generating an air flow through thespace 24D from an air inlet 42D to an air outlet 44D. An air distributormechanism is provided which comprises a distribution plenum 46Dpositioned between the air inlet 42D and the various support surfaces,with a plenum wall 48D having a plurality of perforations 49D therein.In this embodiment, the distribution plenum 46D is arranged along a backside of the support surfaces and the air outlet 44D is positioned alongan opposite, front side which comprises an openable door 55D. An exhaustplenum 56D extends between a plurality of perforations 57D in aninterior panel 59D of the door 55D and the air outlet 44D. Preferablythe perforations 49D in the distribution plenum wall 48D are sized,shaped and arranged to provide an equalized air flow distribution overthe various support surfaces.

FIGS. 13–16 illustrate a fifth alternative embodiment. In FIG. 13, thestationary clothes, dryer 20E is schematically illustrated in a frontperspective view. In this embodiment, the stationary clothes dryer 20Eincludes a housing 22E enclosing a space 24E and a plurality ofstationary clothes supports are located within the space 24E comprisinga hanger bar 29E for receiving one or more hangers 31E to verticallysupport an article to be dried. Various shelves and drawers may also beprovided as discussed with respect to previous embodiments. Thesevarious stationary clothes supports may have porous surfaces ornon-porous surfaces. An air moving device 40E (FIG. 14) in the form of arecirculating fan is provided for generating an air flow in a downstreamdirection through the space 24E from an air inlet 42E (FIGS. 144, 16) toan air outlet 44E (FIGS. 14, 15), preferably with a majority of the airflow being recirculated. As best shown FIG. 14, an air distributormechanism is provided which comprises a distribution plenum 46Epositioned upstream of the various support surfaces, with a plenum wall48E having a plurality of perforations 50E (FIGS. 15, 15A) therein.

In this embodiment, the air flow through the interior of the dryer 20Eis generally from side to side such that the air flow will besubstantially parallel to the surface of the supported articles;including the articles supported by the hanger bar and hanger.

In this embodiment, the distribution plenum 46E is arranged along oneside of the support surfaces and an exhaust/supply plenum 56E (FIG. 16)is arranged along an opposite side. In this embodiment, the shape of thedistribution plenum 46E, as well as the size, shape and arrangement ofthe perforations 50E in the plenum wall 48E provide an equalized airflow distribution over the various support surfaces. Also, theexhaust/supply plenum 56E may have a shape that assists in even flowdistribution, as well as perforations of a size, shape and arrangementto assist in the air flow distribution.

FIG. 15 schematically shows the distribution plenum 46E leading from theexhaust/supply plenum 56E. The distribution plenum 46E is shaped in anarrowing taper in a downstream direction. That is, the distributionplenum 46E extends in a direction along the air flow and decreases incross sectional area in the downstream direction. Further, theperforations 50E in the plenum wall 48E are configured as vanes 71Earranged in a ladder or staggered orientation to assist the airflow inchanging direction from essentially parallel to the plenum wall 48E tothrough the plenum wall. The vanes, as shown in FIG. 15A, are preferablyperforated as well as at 72E, along their length, to prevent theformation of a recirculation zone in the air flow.

FIG. 16 schematically shows the exhaust/supply plenum 56E leadingtowards the recirculation fan 40E. The exhaust/supply plenum 56E isshaped in an expanding taper in a downstream direction toward therecirculation fan 40E in an area of a wall 74E defining a portion of theexhaust/supply plenum 56E. Further, perforations 73E are provided in thewall 74E of the exhaust/supply plenum 56E in the form of slits, as shownin FIG. 16A, which help direct the air flow exhausting from the space24E into the exhaust/supply plenum in such a way (nearly parallel to thewall 74E and from the front) so as to maintain an even flow of airthrough the interior 24E of the dryer and over the support surfaces. Theexhaust/supply plenum 56E first acts as an exhaust plenum for the airflow leaving the dryer space 24, and then as a supply plenum for the airflow approaching the recirculation fan 40E. Thus, the exhaust/supplyplenum is positioned downstream of the dryer space 24E as well asupstream of the distribution plenum 46E.

Recirculation arrangements in the air distributor mechanism, ofappropriate and optionally controllable openings and ducts or passagesshown schematically at 42E, 44E and 78E in FIG. 14 are provided to allowfor a recirculation of all or a part of the air flowing through thestationary dryer of any of the embodiments described.

In each of the embodiments, although not illustrated, the heatingelement as shown in FIG. 2 and arranged upstream of the space 24 couldbe utilized to provide heated air to aid in the drying operation.Further, the air moving device can be located at other locations alongthe air flow path, so as long as an air flow is generated to flow overone or more surfaces of the article support surface. Recirculation ratesand percentages can be modified to produce the desired results.

It will be appreciated, from the above description, that the airdistributor mechanism comprising the distribution plenum can be sizedand arranged in several different configurations, as can the size andposition of the air outlet, without departing from the principles of thepresent invention.

As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention issusceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modificationswhich may differ particularly from those that have been described in thepreceding specification and description. It should be understood that Iwish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all suchmodifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of mycontribution to the art.

1. A stationary dryer comprising: a housing enclosing a space, ahorizontal support located within said space for supporting an articlein a horizontal plane, an air moving device for generating an air flowthrough said space in a downstream direction, an air distributormechanism comprising a distribution plenum positioned in said air flow,upstream of said support, with a plenum wall having a plurality ofperforations therein, said distribution plenum and said perforationsarranged so as to direct an air flow over said support in a firstdirection generally parallel to said plane and in a second, differentdirection generally parallel to said plane, and an air exhaust outletarranged so as to receive said air flow from a third, differentdirection generally parallel to said plane.
 2. A stationary dryeraccording to claim 1, wherein said support comprises a generallyhorizontal porous surface.
 3. A stationary dryer according to claim 1wherein said distribution plenum comprises a pair of spaces, one locatedon each lateral side of said horizontal porous surface.
 4. A stationarydryer according to claim 1, wherein said air distributor mechanismcomprises a supply plenum arranged upstream of said distribution plenumto direct said air flow to said distribution plenum.
 5. A stationarydryer according to claim 1, wherein said plenum wall of saiddistribution plenum extends above and below said support, such that saidair flow is introduced both above and below said support by saiddistribution plenum.
 6. A stationary dryer according to claim 1, whereinsaid support is horizontal and said perforations are below said supportand said exhaust outlet is above said support.
 7. A stationary dryeraccording to claim 1 wherein said perforations are at one lateral sideof said support and said exhaust outlet is at an opposite lateral sideof said support.
 8. A stationary dryer according to claim 1, whereinsaid wall of said distribution plenum has a greater porosity at anupstream side thereof than at a downstream side thereof.
 9. A stationarydryer according to claim 1 wherein said stationary support is mounted ona movable slide member allowing said support to be slid into and out ofsaid housing to load and unload clothing items on said support.
 10. Astationary dryer according to claim 1 wherein said distribution plenumdecreases in cross sectional area in a downstream direction.
 11. Astationary dryer according to claim 1, including an exhaust plenumpositioned downstream of said support.
 12. A stationary dryer accordingto claim 1, including recirculation passages in said air distributormechanism.
 13. A stationary dryer comprising: a housing enclosing aspace, a support located within said space for supporting an article ina plane, an air moving device for generating an air flow through saidspace in a downstream direction, an air distributor mechanism comprisinga distribution plenum positioned in said air flow, upstream of saidsupport, with a plenum wall having a plurality of perforations therein,said distribution plenum and said perforations arranged to direct an airflow along said support in a first direction generally parallel to saidplane, adjacent to at least one face of said support, an air exhaustoutlet arranged to receive said air flow from a second, differentdirection generally parallel to said plane, but adjacent to at least anopposite face of said support, wherein said support comprises ahorizontal porous surface, and wherein said distribution plenumcomprises a pair of spaces, one located on each lateral side of saidsupport.
 14. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim 13, whereinsaid plenum wall of said distribution plenum extends above and belowsaid horizontal porous surface, such that said air flow is introducedboth above and below said horizontal porous surface by said distributionplenum.
 15. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim 13, whereinsaid plenum perforations are positioned on an upstream side of saidhorizontal porous surface and an exhaust outlet leading to said airoutlet is positioned on a downstream side of said horizontal poroussurface.
 16. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim 15 whereinsaid perforations are below said horizontal porous surface and saidexhaust outlet is above said horizontal surface.
 17. A stationaryclothes dryer according to claim 15 wherein said perforations are at onelateral side of said horizontal porous surface and said exhaust outletis at an opposite lateral side of said horizontal surface.
 18. Astationary clothes dryer according to claim 13, wherein said air movingdevice comprises a fan positioned upstream of said distribution plenum.19. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim 13, wherein said wallof said distribution plenum is positioned along said air flow and has agreater porosity at an upstream side thereof than at a downstream sidethereof.
 20. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim 13, whereinsaid distributor plenum decreases in cross sectional area in adownstream direction.
 21. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim13, wherein said support comprises an arrangement for hanging an articleto be dried.
 22. A stationary clothes dryer according to claim 13,including an exhaust plenum positioned downstream of said support.
 23. Astationary clothes dryer according to claim 13, including recirculationpassages in said air distributor mechanism.
 24. A stationary clothesdryer comprising: a housing enclosing a space, a stationary clothessupport located within said space, a fan for generating an air flowthrough said space in a downstream direction, an air distributormechanism comprising a supply plenum leading downstream to adistribution plenum positioned between said supply plenum and saidstationary clothes support, said distribution plenum being located on alateral side of said stationary clothes support, a distribution plenumwall extending along said air flow with an upstream end and a downstreamend and having a plurality of perforations therein, said perforationsbeing sized, shaped and arranged so as to equalize an air flowdistribution over said stationary clothes support, said distributionplenum wall having a greater porosity towards said upstream end thereofthan on said downstream end thereof.
 25. A stationary dryer comprising:a housing enclosing a space, a support located within said space, an airmoving device for generating an air flow through said space in adownstream direction, an air distributor mechanism comprising adistribution plenum positioned in said air flow, upstream of saidsupport, with a plenum wall having a plurality of perforations therein,said distribution plenum having an upstream end and a cross sectionalarea of said plenum tapering from a relatively larger area to arelatively smaller area in a direction leading downstream of saidupstream end, wherein said perforations in said plenum wall comprise aseries of vanes having portions extending into said distribution plenumand portions extending into said space.
 26. A stationary dryer accordingto claim 25 wherein said distribution plenum and said perforations arearranged to direct said air flow from said distribution plenum into saidspace in a direction parallel to a support plane of said support.
 27. Astationary dryer according to claim 25, wherein said vanes each have atleast one perforation therein.
 28. A stationary dryer according to claim25 wherein said air distribution mechanism further comprises an exhaustplenum positioned downstream of said space, with a plenum wall having aplurality of perforations therein, said exhaust plenum having adownstream end and a cross sectional area of said plenum tapering from arelatively larger area to a relatively smaller area in a directionleading upstream of said downstream end.
 29. A stationary dryeraccording to claim 28, wherein said exhaust plenum becomes a supplyplenum for said air moving device.
 30. A stationary dryer comprising: ahousing enclosing a space, a support located within said space, an airmoving device for generating an air flow through said space in adownstream direction, an air distributor mechanism comprising adistribution plenum positioned in said air flow, upstream of saidsupport, with a plenum wall having a plurality of perforations therein,said distribution plenum having an upstream end and a cross sectionalarea of said plenum tapering from a relatively larger area to arelatively smaller area in a direction leading downstream of saidupstream end, wherein said perforations in said exhaust plenum wallcomprise a series of slits arranged so as to redirect said air flow intoa direction substantially parallel to said exhaust plenum wall.
 31. Astationary dryer comprising: a housing enclosing a space, a supportlocated within said space, an air moving device for generating an airflow through said space in a downstream direction, an air distributormechanism comprising a distribution plenum positioned in said air flow,upstream of said support, with a plenum wall arranged generally parallelto said airflow in said distribution plenum having a plurality ofperforations therein, at least one of said distribution plenum and saidperforations being sized or arranged in said wall so as to provide agreater porosity of said wall at an upstream end of said plenum wall andon an upstream side of said plenum wall in comparison to an area of saidwall in a downstream direction and also on said upstream side of saidplenum wall.